1. Field of the Invention
The present invention primarily relates to an apparatus which moves autonomously.
2. Description of the Related Art
As robots have become more sophisticated in functionality, there are increasing opportunities for the robots to perform jobs or works such as carrying luggage or guiding human beings to their destinations. As such, in the environment where robots and human beings coexist, the need for each robot to move while preventing collision with the human beings and the other robots is increasing. In this relation, a technique to cause an autonomous mobile apparatus to stay in a predetermined area to allow human beings or other moving objects to overtake or pass by, for example, is proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-202978).
According to the conventional technique described above, however, the area for the mobile apparatus to stay to avoid contact with the other moving objects should be defined in advance. Thus, in the situation where such an area cannot be defined because it would limit the range in which the moving objects can move and hence restrict their movements, the robot has difficulty in moving in cooperation with the human beings and the other robots surrounding the robot.